The resurgence of Sunrisers Hyderabad, winning three matches after the first-game setback against Kolkata Knight Riders, may not be good news for Mumbai Indians when the teams clash at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium here on Saturday night.
The fact that the absence of captain Kane Williamson, who is resting an injured shoulder, is not being felt at the top is a tribute to the consistency of the explosive opening duo of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow.
However, there is some cause for worry for table-toppers Sunrisers in the middle-order despite all-rounder Vijay Shankar chipping in with useful contributions.
For, in the chase of Delhi Capitals’ modest target, there were some anxious moments after the openers had got the team off to a flying start.
Sunrisers cannot afford such lapses against more professional and stronger sides like Mumbai, who have the ability to seize on half-chances.
But, the welcome news for the host is that stand-in captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar has rediscovered his confidence.
With the pace duo of Sandeep Sharma and Siddharth Kaul backing him, the Afghan spin duo of leggie Rashid Khan and offie Mohammad Nabi is proving to be a handful for the opposition, with the latter being exceptional in the PowerPlays.
On the other hand, Mumbai can look back at the win against the formidable Chennai Super Kings with pride and confidence as key players clicked when it mattered most.
It will be interesting to see how it’s bowling attack challenges the Sunrisers batting in familiar conditions.
In batting, Mumbai badly needs the star-studded line-up, comprising openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard, who was outstanding in taking those brilliant catches in the deep in the previous game, to come good.
Teams (from):
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Ricky Bhui, Shreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha, Shahbaz Nadeem, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Basil Thampi, Billy Stanlake.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Rahul Chahar, Ben Cutting, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ishan Kishan, Siddhesh Lad, Evin Lewis, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McClenaghan, Alzarri Joseph, Jason Behrendorff, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Salam, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Aditya Tare, Suryakumar Yadav, Jayant Yadav, Quinton de Kock.
Match starts at 8pm (IST).
